The opening round of the World Rugby Nations Cup 2016 brought wins for defending champions Romania and Argentina XV, while Emerging Italy edged Uruguay in arguably the game of the day.

Argentina XV were the only side to get the bonus point for scoring four tries or more and top the embryonic Pool A table. Romania and Emerging Italy share top spot in Pool B heading into the second round of fixtures on Monday.

ARGENTINA XV 44-8 SPAIN

Argentina XV opened up their bid for a first World Rugby Nations Cup title in 10 years with a 44-8 win against Spain.

The South Americans were held to a 6-0 lead at the break after a try from blindside flanker Luca Maguire but a second-half onslaught saw them ease to a comfortable victory in the opening match of the 2016 edition.

Maguire, of the University Club of Buenos Aires (CUBA), made rugby history against a never-say-die Spanish team by scoring the first six-point international try in the northern hemisphere at the stadionul National Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest. 

It happened in the dying seconds of the first half, as the Spanish players briefly lost concentration after laying siege to the Argentine 22 for most of the game up until that point. A combination of sturdy Argentine defence and questionable decision-making by the Spanish, who decided against kicking at goal, in the hope that their dominant scrum would enable them to score a pushover try, kept the South American outfit's line intact. However, the Spanish failed to convert their dominant forward effort into points and two inspired changes by head coach Felipe Contepomi in the Argentina XV front-row restored parity.

Reserve hooker Axel Zapata and tight-head Lucas Martinez came on for Santiago Iglesias and Christian Bartoloni respectively and from that moment on the Argentina XV, led from the front by their outstanding scrum-half Felipe Ezcurra, never looked back.

Ezcurra scored within three minutes of the restart and three further tries followed, from midfield pairing Gabriel Ascarate and Juan Cappiello and replacement winger Segundo Tuculet, before the hour mark had been reached. Fly-half Joaquin Diaz Bonilla added a sixth try, and full-back Pedro Mercerat kicked his fourth conversion of the match.

Spain grabbed a late consolation when replacement Daniel Marron crossed the line with two minutes to go. Sergi Aubanell kicked the conversion for a final scoreline of 44-8 to the Argentina XV.

"The first part of the match was very tough but, in the second half, we grew together as a team and we managed to win,” said Argentine try-scorer Ezcurra.

Spain captain Jaime Nava said the game illustrated how you need to play for a full 80 minutes to compete at this level. "The first half, it was pretty good. I think we did some good things, in defence and in attack," he said. "I think we maybe just panicked a little bit when we got in their 22, and that’s why we didn’t score the try. But, at this international level, against these teams, if you are not 100 per cent for a full 80 minutes, you will suffer, and that’s what happened.”

URUGUAY 24-26 EMERGING ITALY

An extraordinary match, which saw Emerging Italy race into a 24-0 lead before withstanding a second-half fight-back from Uruguay, was ultimately settled by Italian fly-half Maicol Azzolini's second-half penalty. 

With the Nations Cup adopting the law trial of points scoring with six points awarded for a try and two for a kick at goal, both sides attacked with ball in hand instead of opting to go for goal.

This adventurous approach brought two tries for Emerging Italy before the break through centres Francesco Menon and Enrico Lucchin. Within a minute of the restart captain Federigo Conforti had added his name to the scoresheet and with Azzolini tagging on the extras to all three tries, the Italians were well in command at 24-0.

Uruguay resorted to kicking to the corner and using their powerful driving maul to get back in the game, and the tactic paid dividends with tries for flanker Diego Magno and scrum-half Santiago Arata.

With the momentum slipping away from them Azzolini sensibly choose to kick for goal when the Uruguayans infringed within range of the posts. His penalty restored the points buffer to 10, which meant Nicolas Freitas’ converted try for Los Teros on 70 minutes was in vain.

Emerging Italy managed to close out the game for a thrilling victory despite ending the game with 14 men after Guiseppe di Stefano was sent to the sin-bin.

"This was a difficult match for all us and we are really glad that it’s over,” said a relieved Emerging Italy captain Federico Conforti. “I am pleased for the boys as they won a very tough game. Congratulations to all of them and also our staff who have helped a lot.

"We are pleased to be here as this is a genuine development tournament. This is a big opportunity to every player to show how good they are, have a good tournament individually and as a team."

Meanwhile, Los Teros captain Juan Manuel Gaminara thought the game was an opportunity missed. “We wanted to win, that’s what we came here for. We missed a good opportunity but we must learn to start winning this type of match. We are all working hard and will learn the lesson to enable us win in the future.

NAMIBIA 8-20 ROMANIA

Compared to last year's one-sided game, when a fired-up Romania dismissed a struggling Namibia 43-3, Thursday’s final match was a battle between equals, which the Oaks won 20-8 after an epic struggle.

It was the Romanian pack that set the tone in the early exchanges and the pressure exerted on the Welwitschias saw flanker Rohan Kitshoff yellow-carded. His indiscretion was punished further when Nations Cup record points-scorer Florin Vlaicu (pictured) put the ball through the posts for the second time in the match, for a 4-0 lead to the host nation. That advantage was trebled when, after 21 minutes, Scottish referee Lloyd Lindon awarded the home pack an eight-point penalty try.

Worse was to come for the Welwitschias when captain and number eight Renaldo Bothma was also dispatched to the sin-bin. Shortly after Bothma returned to the fray, on 35 minutes, Romania extended their lead following a try for left-winger Ionut Dumitru.

The normally reliable Vlaicu missed the conversion and Romania had to settle for an 18-0 lead at the break.

A second missed penalty at the start of the second half saw two points go begging but Vlaicu readjusted his sights and stepped up to slot home his next kick to make the scoreline 20-0 after 66 minutes.

Credit to Namibia, they kept plugging away, and impressive second-row Tjuee Uanivi capped a fine display by going over for their try in the dying minutes of the game.

“This was far from being an easy match and our performance was perhaps not our best,” said Romania captain Stelian Burcea. “However, It was a hard-fought win, which is normal at the start of a tournament like this. The most important thing is that we do not have any serious injuries and we are aware of our potential.

“Taking into account the number of young players who made their debut for Romania today I am very pleased with the outcome and look forward to start developing the team for the next matches. We know our potential and we hope to improve for the next match.”

Main photo credit: Mihai Georgescu